Book Review-Rebooting AI By Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis

The long title of the book is Rebooting AI: Building Artificial Intelligence We Can Trust.

In the aftermath of the introduction of ChatGPT, a chatbot by OpenAI, and the attendant controversy which the site stirred up, this book can serve as a great introduction to, and provide an explanation of Artificial Intelligence as it is being designed right now.

The reason for the longer title is that the authors do not believe that AI community, specifically the Deep Learning contingent, are ever going to give the world Artificial Intelligence which will come close to replicating human intelligence. Indeed, the authors make a bold statement about WHY the Deep Learning Approach will never come close. That argument is the premise of this book.

The authors are well respected members of the AI movement. Their credentials are impeccable and they straddle the academic and the commercial spheres of AI.

The authors lay out their problems, and the problems with how the current approach to creating AI as it is practiced today, is flawed. They proceed to explain, in qualitative details, how Deep Learning and the statistic based AI methods are just very advanced curve fitting: no more, no less; they also point out why this approach will not ever create anything that will even crudely approximate human intelligence.

They do so in eight chapters.   The first two lay out the problem and gives us a vision of what our expectations should be. The third chapter details the process: Deep Learning, that all the AI world use to create their systems. Chapters four and five make the argument against the premise that Deep Learning is the sole method that is necessary to create human like artificial intelligence. The authors call what is necessary Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). The distinction between what we have versus what we truly want, i.e. human intelligence, is the distinction between AI and AGI.

Chapters six through eight is where the authors make their point about what is missing in just using Deep Learning to build AI, and what is critical and necessary for being able to approximate human intelligence: AGI. They offer up the examples of human traits which are non-numerical, intuitive, causal, and elusive. They also delve into why these traits can not be replicated through programming the AI engine with infinite amounts of training data.

It is necessary to point out that the authors are not naysayers when it comes to the idea of artificial intelligence, they do not outright argue against the enterprise of creating artificial intelligence systems, indeed, they are steeped in the AI world, they are AI enthusiasts, they are AI believers. They are also critical thinkers and cognitive scientists, very well grounded in the human mind and its knowns and unknowns. They give credit where credit is due when they allude to the impressive results of Deep Learning creations; their objection is that the Deep Learning proponents are using just a single note to create the polyphonic sound we hear when we imagine machines that think; because they are neglecting the cognitive and psychological aspects of being human.

Their argument is convincing, because they are clear, concise, and their combined knowledge on the subject is impressive. They lay out their case with an impressive combination of technical papers and study results mixed in with imaginative weaving of common sense. Their logic appeals to what humans have always longed for when we speak of robots and our technical ability to design our dream robots.

As the news of ChatGPT  has made the rounds of popular social media, the mix of concern, amazement, and bemusement has fed the interest of the lay public in the subject, an interest that has even surprised those who created ChatGPT. Yet the discussions have not gotten beyond the superficial layer of AI. This book makes a very fine primer for those who wish to dig in the depths of the subject, at least a little bit. Fortunately, the authors have also provided a substantial list of references for the reader, in case they are curious.

I learned a copious amount about AI research that had been done in the past few decades. Reading the book gave me a foundation upon which I can form an educated opinion. My opinion may not contribute to the state of the art of AI, but it gives me a solid foundation to work from.

Book Review-Guitar Zero by Gary Marcus

This book is an unexpected pleasure. Unexpected because I had known about Gary Marcus through his professional standing as a cognitive psychologist. I had read his recent article in Nautilus magazine on artificial intelligence.

I was looking around in his list of authored books to find some cognition related material to dive into, but then this title: Guitar Zero shows up on that list. I felt compelled to reading this book after reading about the premise, because it stood out from  his much more serious writings. I had endured years of  violin lessons as all good Asian boys will do, I enjoyed the experience, but I was a miserable player, owning short stubby fingers preordained my fate as a terrible fiddler. The music theory and appreciation comes in handy for the rest of my life, but I had always had a desire to play the guitar, some teenage hormonal dreams never die.

This book was curious to me because: what is a serious cognitive scientist doing writing a book like this? I read some of the teasers about the book and I was intrigued because he seemed to be as hopeless at playing an instrument as I was. But he had the gumption, and a year of sabbatical to devote to this project.  

I was also interested in seeing how he, a cognitive scientist, can parlay his knowledge in the cognitive sciences to analyze what he is doing and to improve his playing.

The book was amazing.

It doesn't hurt that the author is has a good, self-deprecating sense of humor and he made copious fun of his own inabilities to “get” rhythm. The sidebars, if you could call them that, are fascinating because in addition to entertaining us with his struggles learning how to play, he regaled us with solid knowledge regarding cognition, how we humans learn how to play instruments and how our brains work in the cognitive context. It helps that what he said lined up with what I had been reading and learning, a big motivational boost for me. The reassurance that I was going down the correct track was very welcomed.

He delves into the literature about learning, and most fortuitously, he is a fine writer, so he is excellent at explaining the main ideas as well as diving into the granularities. He complements his cognition explanations with examples of his struggles in learning to play the guitar. He not only explains what he is experiencing, but he also discusses why he was having problems and how he can ameliorate the difficulties. He always couples the  difficulties that a guitar presents to your average human with the latest cognitive theories.

Yet another bonus with the author is that he is a major fanboy. He talks about musicians that are around my vintage. I think he's a little younger than me, so the musicians he was using as examples are people that I know, and I also like. It all fits in together neatly in a cohesive package.

One thing that he had that was somewhat unique, outside of devoting a full year to this experiment, was that he was able to hire a top-notch guitar teacher to work with him; something that the average person might not be able to afford.

One of the more interesting experiences that he had is that he was able to attend the School of Rock with his teacher’s recommendation and access.

This interlude at a retreat where he ends up being the oldest person in his rock and roll band —he's playing with a bunch of kids and they're just kicking his butt musically. He knew where he stood, and he persevered through the experience enjoying his time there. Most importantly, it seems that he also improved significantly. We, the readers, are fortunate to be present, through his very well written narrative, at this experience.  

In the end, he had a fun playing experience and he did what most middle-aged guys dream of doing: learn to play guitar and getting a chance to perform with a group of great musicians. As of the end of the book, we learn that he still plays, and his rock band of kids had a successful performance.

This is a serious book, as well as a fun book of nice stories about music and how to learn to play music. There is a significant list of endnotes and list of references that he uses to show us all the serious cognitive science papers that is referenced as the basis for his discussions.

In the end, it is the rock and roll experience that I was really drawn to, and I really enjoyed. reading about the applied cognitive concepts that he discussed.

The most significant thing for me though, is his  good fortune of having access to some of my favorite musicians because he is working on the book. He also introduced me to many musicians that I had never heard of, I need to thank him for that, as I'm checking those musicians out.

The fact that he was able to get Tom Morello and my all-time favorite jazz guitarist: Pat Metheny to sit down and answer his questions just blew my mind and made me green with envy.

This book is great fun. I recommend this to anybody who has had any experience trying to learn how to play any musical instruments or trying to learn to play any sport, because you would appreciate the difficulties that he writes about, as well as his patience and stubbornness.